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Monday, April 11, 2011

Fantasy Hockey Roundup

With the NHL regular season finally over, fantasy poolies can look back and reflect on the season that was, or wasn't, for their teams. Make sure to join our CBC Fantasy Hockey Pool Group for your Playoff Fantasy Hockey fix and your chance to win a car (not from us).

Dirty Dangle's pick for Fantasy Player of the Year

What a fantasy hockey season it was. Injuries, breakouts, and Vancouver Canucks. Sidney Crosby missed half the season, Zach Parise missed a majority of it, Mike Green played 49 games and Evgeni Malkin only played in 43. As much as those injuries would have hurt you, it wouldn't have been hard to pick up a free agent/waiver that didn't add some extra punch to your lineup. Jeff Skinner, Logan Couture, Mikhail Grabovski, Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Dubinsky and James Reimer were all players who (probably) got overlooked in drafts, but found themselves getting scooped up on the free agent/waiver wire. And if you managed to grab anyone from the Vancouver Canucks there was a good chance you finished top 3 in your pool. The Sedins, Kesler, Luongo, Ehrhoff, Samuelsson, Burrows and even Cory Schneider all had solid fantasy numbers. Here are your fantasy players of the year by position:

Fantasy Players of the Year by Position

C - Steven StamkosThis position boils down to what your team needs, but ultimately Steven Stamkos delivered. Stammer started hot, and had many asking if he'd reach 50 goals in 50 games. Unfortunately, he cooled, but still finished with 45 goals and 91 points. His 36 powerplay points led all centres and he managed to rack up a decent PIM total (74) and shot count (272). Stamkos was a plus player for the first time in his career (+3) and at the age of 21, he is a definite keeper in any league.Notable Mentions:Henrik Sedin - great assist totals and +/-, you get bonus points if you pulled a Brian Burke in 1999 and managed to draft him and Daniel Sedin.Ryan Kesler - one of the best all-around fantasy players this season thanks to 4 shorthanded points, a rating of +24 and a career high 41 goals - he also led the league in interview bombs.

LW - Daniel SedinLeague leader in points, league leader in powerplay points, red head - and all this as a left winger. One of the toughest positions to fill a roster with, it's always good to try and grab a strong LW before any other position, and Daniel fulfilled every poolies wishes. With Alex Ovechkin having a not-so-OV-year, Daniel takes the top fantasy left winger this year, the Art Ross Trophy with 104 points and could add a potential Hart Trophy as well.Notable Mentions:Alexander Ovechkin - 32 goals is an off-year for AO, but he's still OV and provided fantasy owners with solid stats to compete for a championshipMilan Lucic - Looch managed 30 goals this season, and had 121 PIMs - only he and Corey Perry had 30 goals and 100+PIMs this season.

RW - Corey PerryOne of our all-time favourite fantasy players to draft, Corey Perry did not disappoint this year. His 50 goals, 48 assists, 104 PIMs, 31 powerplay points, 5 shorthanded points, 11 game winning goals and 290 shots make him our top fantasy hockey player of the year. Always a solid fantasy guy, Perry increased his scoring output to make him a dominant fantasy player this year - easily your Fantasy Hockey Pool MVP.

Notable Mentions:Martin St. Louis - Stamkos' wheelman, his 68 assists were the highest in his career, not bad for a short guy.Jarome Iginla - Iggy finished the season on a high note with 18 goals and 28 points in 18 game since the trade deadline. Always a solid fantasy guy.

D - Dustin ByfuglienBig Buff finished as the only 20-goal D-man in the league, and finished 2nd behind Ovechkin in shots taken with 347 out of all the players. Throw in 93 PIMs and the fact that Yahoo! had him listed as a D/RW all season is an even bigger plus. Not many expected him to continue his strong play when he left Chicago, but Byfuglien showed them. Notable Mentions:

G - Tim ThomasBeat Dominik Hasek for the single season save percentage record with a .938, and his 2.00 GAA was tops in the league. 9 shutouts and 35 wins don't hurt either. Bonus points if you got him late because of Tuukka Rask's expected emergence.

This was an interesting season for the whole league. You had the Caps in the horrible slump and then turning it back around (Ovy finished strong this year). Crosby being out for half the year, the Canucks walking over the league, Chicago JUST making the playoffs, head shots galore, Winnipeg's possible comeback... just too many things to talk about.

My top moments were Lidstrom's first career hat trick (at 40 years old), the Islanders revenge on the Penguins (Talbot getting his ass kicked 3 times in one game), the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry heating up again and Stevie Y turning around Tampa Bay.

About Dirty Dangle

Dirty Dangle Hockey is Toby and Mark Mead. Showcasing the lighter side of hockey as you need to have a sense of humour growing up a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. You can follow us on Twitter, like Dirty Dangle on FacebookFacebookor shoot us an email any time at dirtydangle@hotmail.ca